AOL Adds E-Mail Plug-ins for Google, Yahoo Mail

Small-business owners know how difficult and confusing it can be to link multiple e-mail accounts, especially in an age where you're linking across a variety of mobile, desktop and portable machines. For those midmarket companies still using AOL, you'll be pleased to know the company announced "one-click" access to Gmail and Yahoo Mail, as well as a variety of third-party sites and destinations, directly from the AOL Web Mail page.

"Web Mail is an integral part of the AOL experience and at the heart of our product offerings," said Ted Cahall, president of AOL products and technologies. "With this new release, we can showcase the important role AOL products continue to play in the company. Enhancing products that already attract a large, engaged audience is a key goal for our organization."

Along with the third-party mail plug-ins, AOL says it has increased the speed and performance of its Web Mail experience and enhanced the user interface to make it more intuitive. In part, that means more than 45 new "skins," or themes, that let users personalize their page. It also gives advertisers the ability to work with AOL to create themes that will "appeal" to key audiences.

"People who are using AOL Mail represent an already engaged audience," said AOL Mail Senior Vice President Rich Landsman. "As we continue to extend our capabilities far beyond sending and receiving mail, we are challenging ourselves and third-party developers everywhere to create new opportunities for delivering customized, relevant content using our mail platform."

Today's launch marked the first release from the AOL Product and Technologies Group, created as one of the final steps in AOL's transformation to an advertising-supported business. The new group includes several of AOL's products and platforms, including Mail, MapQuest, AOLSearch and AOL Mobile.

In 2008, AOL ranked as the second most popular free e-mail service with more than 48 million users. According to Comscore, an Internet marketing research company, AOL Web Mail experienced a 27 percent increase in unique visitors year-over-year in 2008, and Web Mail page views were up by more than 21 percent.